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AN 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE 



ELOCUTION; 



WITH PRINCIPLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, ARRANGED FOR TEACHING 
AND PRACTICE. 



By Prof. MARK BAILEY, 

INSTRUCTOR OF ELOCUTION IN YALE COLLEGE. 



PEEFACE TO THE' -INTRODUCTION". 

Good Reading includes a mastery of the elements of lan- 
guage and elocution. Articulation and pronunciation must be 
not only distinct and accurate, but expressive. This last excel- 
lence cannot be attained by merely enunciating meaningless 
sounds and syllables. Too many such mechanical exercises 
kill the instinctive use and recognition of expressive tones 
which the child brings to school, and in the end completely 
divorce his elocution from the spirit and sense to which it 
should be inseparably wedded, and which alone can inspire 
natural expression. The child feels and thinks before he 
talks. Nature, in her teaching, begins with the idea, and in 
her repeated efforts to express the idea more perfectly, perfects 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by Mark BAILEY, in the Clerk's Office of 

the District Court of Connecticut. 

Copyright, 1880, by MARK BAILEY. 






2 PREFACE. j$* 6 

the elementary parts of language and elocution. Let us enlist 
Nature into our service by following her teachings. Let even 
the earliest lesson in reading be enlivened by the aid of some 
idea familiar and interesting to the child. He knows the 
thing, the idea, " man," or " sun " ; he has spoken the word 
a thousand times, and he is pleased to learn that the myste- 
rious art of reading is only conscious talking, — that he is but 
analyzing, and sounding, and naming the unknown parts of 
a familiar whole. But especially with the advanced classes 
(which are expected to use the following work on elocution) 
would the author commend this practical method of improving 
the parts, with the immediate purpose of giving better expres- 
sion to the whole, — of practicing and perfecting the execution 
of the dead elements of elocution, in the life-giving light of 
inspiring ideas. 

" There is in souls a sympathy with sounds." 

This analogy in Nature between tones and sentiments is the 
central source from which the author has drawn the simple 
principles and hints which are given to aid teachers in their 
laudable efforts to cultivate in the school-room, and thus every- 
where, a more natural and expressive elocution. 

The art, embracing the expression of the whole range of 
human thoughts and feelings, from the earliest lispings of the 
child to the most impassioned and finished utterance of a Gar- 
rick or Siddons, covers too wide a field, and reaches too high 
a point in human culture, it is evident, to be all compressed 
into these few introductory pages ; nor would the highest refine- 
ments of the art be practicable in the school-room if they could 
be here given. Yet such initial steps have been taken, and 
clearly marked out in the right direction towards the highest 
art, it is hoped, as will tempt many to go on farther in this 
interesting study of nature and art, till they see for themselves 
to what " rich ends " our " most poor matters point." 

M. B. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 



PART I. 

Elocution is the vocal expression of ideas with the speak- 
ing tones, as distinguished from the singing. 

Good Elocution, in reading or speaking, is the expression 
of ideas with their appropriate or natural speaking tones of 
the voice. 

But how can we, intelligently, even attempt to give correct 
vocal expression to what is not first clearly understood and 

APPRECIATED 1 

Hence arises at the very outset, as a prerequisite to any 
possible excellence in elocution, the necessity of a thorough 
analysis and study of the ideas or the thoughts and feelings 
to be read. 

Let, then, each lesson in reading begin with this preparatory 
work of " Logical Analysis" 

METHOD OF ANALYSIS. 

In any other art, if we wish to conceive and express things 
clearly, we inquire, first, for the genus, or the general kind; 
secondly, for the species, or the individuals, under that kind. 

If, for example, we were asked to paint a group of animals 
or flowers, — 

1. We should ascertain what kind of animals or flowers is 
meant — the horse, or the lion ; the rose, or the lily. 

2. We should determine the peculiarities of the individuals. 

3. We should feel obliged to learn something of the general 
colors we are to paint with, their various shades, and how to 
blend these into expressive lights and shades. Then only should 



4 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

we feel prepared to take the first step successfully in the art of 
painting. 

Let us, in the kindred art of elocution, adopt the same natural 
method and order of inquiry. 

Let us determine, — 

1. The general spirit or ki?id of the piece to be read. 
1 2. The important individual ideas. 
3. The relative importance of the ideas. 

1. We must determine the kind or general spirit, that we 
may know what general or standard force, and time, &c, of 
voice we should read with. There must be some standard 
to guide us, or we cannot tell how much emphasis to give to 
any idea. " Eead the emphatic words louder," says the teacher. 
Louder than what? "Louder than the unemphatic words." 
But how loud are they — the unemphatic words 1 This question 
must be answered first, or we have no standard to go by ; and 
the answer to this question is determined always by the general 
spirit of the piece. If that is unemotional, the standard force 
required is moderate; if bold, the standard force is bold, or 
loud ; if subdued or pathetic, the standard force is subdued, or 
soft. 

2. We must determine the important individual ideas, that 
we may know what words need extra force or emphasis. 

3. We must determine the relative importance of these ideas, 
that we may know how much emphatic force we must give to 
each respectively, so as to bring out in our reading, clearly, the 
exact and full meaning of the author. 

But it may be objected that this method of catching the 
spirit of the author, first, is too difficult for the school-room, 
because there are so many emotions not easily distinguished or 
remembered. Yet, since this natural order of inquiry, if it 
can be made practicable, will make all our after progress so 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 5 

nmcli more intelligent and rapid, and since the chief charm of 
all the best pieces for expressive reading lies in the emotional 
part, let us see if we cannot sufficiently simplify these difficulties, 
by grouping nearly all the emotions into a few representative 
classes, which will be definite enough for all ordinary purposes 
in teaching elocution, and which can be easily recognized by 
any one who can distinguish joy from sorrow, or a mere matter- 
of-fact idea from impassioned sentiment. 

As appropriate answers to our first question in analysis, let 
pupils become familiar with some such simple and comprehen- 
sive classes as the following : — 



DIFFERENT KINDS OR CLASSES OF IDEAS. 

1. 'Unemotional' or matter-of-fact (whether didactic, narra- 
tive, or descriptive). 

2. ' Bold ' (including the very emphatic passages in the first 
class, and all declamatory pieces). 

3. 'Animated, or joyous' (including all lively, happy, or 
beautiful ideas). 

4. ' Subdued, or pathetic ' (including all gentle, tender, or 
sad ideas). 

5. 'Noble' (including all ideas that are great, grand, sub- 
lime, or heroic). 

6. ' Grave ' (including the deep feelings of solemnity, rever- 
ence, &c). 

7. 'Ludicrous, or sarcastic' (including jest, raillery, ridicule, 
mockery, irony, scorn, or contempt). 

8. 'Impassioned' (including all very bold pieces, and such 
violent passions as anger, defiance, revenge, &c). 

When selections are of a mixed character, — some passages 
' matter-of-fact,' some ' bold,' some ' noble,' &c, — the first ques- 
tion must be asked as often as there is a marked change. 



6 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Having clearly analyzed any given example, we are ready 
intelligently to ask and answer the first elocutionary question, 
viz., How can we read the same so as to express with the voice 
the ' general spirit ' and the ' individual ideas ' with the ' rela- 
tive importance ' of each 1 This brings us to the subject of — 



VOCAL EXPRESSION. 

Before analyzing the elements of vocal expression, let pupils 
be made to understand, as clearly as possible, this broad, gen- 
eral principle, viz., that expression in Nature or Art depends 
on some kinds of lights and shades, as of color, or form, or 
sound. 

Let them see that the clean white wall or the blackboard has 
no expression, just because it has but one shade of one color, 
while the painted map on the wall expresses something, because 
it has different shades of various colors. 

They will then the more clearly understand that the true 
expression of thoughts and feelings in reading depends on 
using the right lights and shades of the voice; that a monoto- 
nous tone gives no more expression to the ear than the one 
monotonous color does to the eye. 

All our lights and shades of expression in elocution are to be 
made out of the following : — 

elements of vocal expression. 

1. 'Force,' with all its natural variety, from moderate to 
louder or softer. 

2. ' Time,' with its changes from moderate to faster or slower 
movement, also with its longer or shorter quantity and pauses. 

3. 'Slides' 'rising,' and 'falling,' and 'circumflex,' and all 
these as moderate, or longer or shorter. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 7 

4. 'Pitch? with its variety of l key-note? l compass? and 
1 melody? 

5. ' Volume? with more or less 'fullness ' of tone. 

6. ' Stress? or the different kinds of force, as ' abrupt? or 
* smooth? or as given to different joa-rfe of a syllable. 

7. ' Quality? as * pure? and resonant, or - impure? and aspi- 
rated. 

Let us now study and practice the principles for the right use 
of each one of these elements of vocal expression, in Part II. 

(?) 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 



PART II. 



PRINCIPLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ELEMENTS 
OF VOCAL EXPRESSION. 

FORCE. 

As in our analysis of the spirit and sense of each passage, we 
have always two quite different questions to ask, viz., What is 
the general spirit, and what the relative importance of the indi- 
vidual ideas ? so in our analysis of each one of the elements of 
vocal expression, we have the same general and individual 
inquiries to make : — 

1. What general degree of force will best express the ' general 
spirit ' of the piece 1 

2. Taking this general force as our 'standard* degree of 
loudness or softness to be given to the unempliatic words, how 
much additional force must we give to the emphatic words, in 
order to bring out, in our reading, the relative importance of 
the different ideas 1 



PRINCIPLE FOR STANDARD FORCE. 

Determine the ' standard force ' for the unemphatic words by 
the ' kind ' or ' general spirit ' of the piece. 

If the kind is ' unemotional,' the standard force is ' moderate.' 

If the kind is ' bold,' the standard force is ' loud? 

If the kind is 'pathetic or subdued,' the standard force is 
'soft: 

PRINCIPLE FOR RELATIVE OR EMPHATIC FORCE. 

Taking the ' standard force ' for the unemphatic words, give 
additional force to the emphatic ideas, according to their rela- 
tive importance. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 9 

" Learning is better than wealth ; 
Culture is better than learning ; 
Wisdom is better than culture." 

ANALYSIS. 

The ' general spirit ' or ' kind ' is ' unemotional.' The ' stand- 
ard force'' is, therefore, * moderate' The words "better" and 
"wealth" in the first line must have just enough additional 
force to distinguish them from the unemphatic words " is " and 
" than." " Learning " is more important than " wealth," and 
must have enough more force than " wealth " to express its 
relative importance. " Culture" is more important than " learn- 
ing," and must therefore be read with more force. "Wisdom " 
is still more important than "culture," and must be read with 
still more force, to distinguish it as the most important of all. 

Hence, to read this simple paragraph naturally, that is, to 
express distinctly the general spirit and the relative importance 
of the different ideas, Ave needle distinct degrees of force. 

Let us mark the least degree of emphatic force by italics, the 
second by small capitals, the third by large capitals, the fourth 
by larger capitals, and express the same in reading. 

" Learning is better than wealth ; 
CULTURE is better than learning ; 
WISDOM is better than CULTURE." 



* Unemotional' examples for 'moderate' standard force. 

1. "I am charged with ambition. The charge is true, and I 
glory in its truth. Who ever achieved anything great in 
letters, arts, or arms, who was not ambitious ? Ccesar was not 
more ambitious than Cicero. It was but in another way. All 
greatness is born of ambition. Let the ambition be a NOBLE 
one, and who shall blame it 1 " 

2. " The plumage of the mocking-bird, though none of the 



10 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

homeliest, has nothing gaudy or brilliant in it, and, had he 
nothing else to recommend him, would scarcely entitle him to 
notice ; but his figure is well-proportioned, and even handsome. 
The ease, elegance, and rapidity of his movements, the animation 
of his eye, and the intelligence he displays in listening, and 
laying up lessons from almost every species of the feathered 
creation within his hearing, are really surprising, and mark 
the peculiarity of his genius." 

3. " Three poets, in three distant ages horn, 
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn : 
The first in majesty of thought surpassed ; 
The next in gracefulness ; in BOTH, the last." 

Unmakked Examples.* 

4. " Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, 
Is our destined end or way; 
But to act, that each to-morrow 
Find us farther than to-day. 

" Let us, then, be up and doing, 
With a heart for any fate ; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 
Learn to labor and to wait." 

5. " In every period of life the acquisition of knowledge is 
one of the most pleasing employments of the human mind. 
But in youth there are circumstances which make it productive 
of higher enjoyment. It is then that everything has the charm 
of novelty, that curiosity and fancy are awake, and that the 
heart swells with the anticipations of future eminence and 
utility." 

* Some examples, -under Force, Time, and Slides, are given without elocu- 
tionary marks, that teachers and pupils may exercise their own judgment and 
taste in analyzing and reading them according to the principles. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 11 

'Bold' examples for 'loud 1 standard force. 

1. " Sir we have done everything that could be done to avert 
the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we 
have remonstrated ; we have supplicated ; we have prostrated 
ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition 
to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and parliament. 
Our petitions have been slighted ; our remonstrances have pro- 
duced additional violence and insult ; our supplications have 
been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, 
from the foot of the throne ! " 

2. " My friends, our country must be free ! The land 

Is never lost, that has a son to right her, 

And here are troops of sons, and loyal ones ! 

Strong in her children should a mother be : 

Shall ours be helpless, that has sons like us 1 

God save our native land, whoever pays 

The ransom that redeems her ! Now what wait we 1 

For Alfred's word to move upon the foe ? 

UpOlN - him then ! Now think ye on the things 

You most do love ! Husbands and fathers, on 

Their wives and children ; lovers on their beloved ; 

And all upon their COUNTKY ! " 

3. " The gentleman, sir, has misconceived the spirit and ten- 
dency of Northern institutions. He is ignorant of Northern 
character. He has forgotten the history of his country. Preach 
insurrection to the Northern laborers 1 Who are the Northern 
laborers ? The history of your country is their history. The 
renown of your country is their renown. The brightness of 
their doings is emblazoned on its every page. Where is Con- 
cord, and Lexington, and Princeton, and Trenton, and Saratoga, 
and Bunker Hill, but in the North 1 And what, sir, has shed 



12 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

an imperishable renown on the names of those hallowed spots, 
but the blood, and the struggles, the high daring, and patriot- 
ism, and sublime courage of Northern laborers] The whole 
North is an everlasting monument of the freedom, virtue, intel- 
ligence, and indomitable independence of Northern laborers. 
Go, sir, go preach insurrection to men like these ! " 

4. " Our Fatherland is in danger ! Citizens ! to arms ! to 
arms ! Unless the whole Nation rise up, as one man, to defend 
itself, all the noble blood already shed is in vain ; and on the 
ground where the ashes of our ancestors repose the Eussian 
knout will rule over an enslaved People ! We have nothing to 
rest our hopes upon but a righteous God and our own strength. 
And if we do not put forth that strength, God will also forsake 
us. Hungary's struggle is no longer our struggle alone. It is 
the struggle of popular freedom against tyranny. In the wake 
of our victory will follow liberty to the Italians, Germans, 
Poles. With our fall goes down the star of freedom over all." 



Examples of the ' subdued ' or 'pathetic ' kind for ' soft ' standard 

force. 

1. " Little Nell was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, 
so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a 
creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath 
of life ; not one who had lived and suffered death. Her couch 
was dressed with here and there some winter berries and green 
leaves, gathered in a spot she had been used to favor. ' When 
I die, put near me something that has loved the light, and had 
the sky above it always' Those were her words." 

2. "But Bozzaris fell, 
Bleeding at every vein. 

His few surviving comrades saw 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 13 

His smile, when rang their proud hurrah, 

And the red field was won : 
Then saw in death his eyelids close 
Calmly, as to a night's repose, 

Like flowers at set of sun" 

3. " I have known deeper wrongs. I, that speak to ye, 
I had a brother once, a gracious boy, 
Full of all gentleness, of calmest hope, 
Of sweet and quiet joy, — there was the look 
Of Heaven upon his face, which limners give 
To the beloved disciple. How I loved 
That gracious boy ! Younger by fifteen years, 
Brother at once, and son ! He left my side, 
A summer bloom on his fair cheeks, — a smile 
Parting his innocent lips. In one short hour, 
The pretty, harmless boy was slain ! " 

4. " There is a calm for those who weep, 
A rest for weary pilgrims found ; 
They softly lie and sweetly sleep, 
Low in the ground. 

" The storm, that sweeps the wintry sky, 
No more disturbs their deep repose 
Than summer evening's latest sigh, 
That shuts the rose." 

' Soft force ' is also appropriate for the ' grave ' kind of senti- 
ments, and ' loud force ' for the 'joyous ' and ' noble,' and ' very 
loud force ' for the ' impassioned ' ; but since other elements of 
the voice, such as ' time,'' 'slides,' ' quality ,' &c, have more char- 
acteristic prominence than 'force' in the finished expression of 
these classes, we shall be more likely to secure naturalness in 
the end, if we call attention first to the most characteristic 
elements. 



14 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

TIME. 

' Time ' has the same general and relative use as ' Force.' 

PRINCIPLE FOR STANDARD TIME. 

Determine the 'standard time' by the 'general spirit' of the 
piece. 

If the general spirit is ' unemotional,' the standard time is 
naturally ' moderate. 1 

If the general spirit is ' animated or joyous,' the standard 
time is 'fast.' 

If the general spirit is ' grave,' ' subdued or pathetic,' or 
' noble,' the standard time is ' slow. 7 

PRINCIPLE FOR RELATIVE OR EMPHATIC TIME. 

Taking the ' standard time ' for the unemphatic words, give 
additional time to the emphatic ideas, according to their relative 
importance. 

EXPLANATION. 

1 Emphatic time' has two forms. 1. That of actual sound, or 
' quantity.'' 2. That of rest, or 'pause.' 

When an emphatic idea is found in a word whose accented 
syllable is long, give most of the emphatic time in long quantity, 
with only a short pause after the word. "When the syllable to 
be emphasized is short, give to it only so much quantity as good 
taste in pronunciation will allow, and the residue of the required 
time in a pause after the word ; thus holding the attention of 
the mind on the idea for the full time demanded by the prin- 
ciple. 

When extraordinary emphasis of time is required, long 
pauses must be added to long quantity. 

Thus far 'time' harmonizes with 'force' in principle and 
practice. But ' time ' is of additional value to us. It furnishes 
one of the primary requisites to all intelligible reading, viz. : — 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 15 



APPROPRIATE PAUSES. 

The first and great use of ' pauses ' is to separate the ideas 
from each other, so as to preserve distinctly to the eye on the 
written page, and to the ear in reading, the individuality of 
each, together with its relation to those before and after it. 

Second, pauses are necessary to give the reader frequent 
opportunities for inhaling. 

The grammatical pauses only imperfectly answer these pur- 
poses. But the additional elocutionary pauses which the spirit 
and sense may demand, are anticipated by our " Principle for 
relative or emphatic time," which makes pauses a natural part 
of expressive emphasis in reading. 

PRINCIPLE FOR STANDARD PAUSES. 

Determine the ' standard pause ' by the ' general spirit ' of 
the piece. 

If the general spirit is ' unemotional,' the standard pause is 
' moderate.'' 

If the general spirit is ' animated or joyous,' the standard 
pause is ' short.' 

If the general spirit is ' grave,' or ' subdued or pathetic,' the 
standard pause is ' long. 1 

PRINCIPLE FOR RELATIVE PAUSES. 

Give the ' standard pause ' after each distinct, unemphatic 
idea, and give additional time to the pauses after the emphatic 
and independent ideas, according to their relative importance 
and independence. 

EXPLANATION. 

As the ' standard time ' for the movement and pauses is usually 
the same, let one perpendicular line [ be the mark for both. 
Let any additional number of lines indicate additional time, or 
emphatic ' quantity ' or 'patises.' Let the half line ' indicate a 
time less than the standard. This time is needed in reading 
properly all parenthetical clauses, which are, from their very 



16 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

nature, less important even than the unemphatic parts of the 
principal sentences. 



' Unemotional ' examples for ' moderate ' standard time. 

1. " The young man, j it is often said, ' has genius \ \ enough, | 
if he would only study. \ | Now the truth is, | as I shall take 
the liberty to state it, ' that the genius j| will ||| study ; || it is 
that | in the mind | which does \ | study : | that is the very 
nature \ | of it. j I care not to say | that it will always use 
books. || All study j| is not reading, j| any more than all read- 
ing || is study. || Attention |!j it is, — | though other quali- 
ties belong to this transcendent power, — | ATTENTION 1 1 1 1 
it is, | that is the very soul 1 1 1 of genius ; \\ not the fixed eye, j | 
not the poring over a book, || but the fixed thought." ||| 



ANALYSIS. 

The piece is ' unemotional,' and should be read, therefore, 
with ' moderate ' i standard time ' for ' movement ' and 'pauses.' 

" The young man " is unemphatic, and should be marked 
and read with the ' standard time.' The clause, " it is often 
said," is really parenthetical : it forms no essential part of the 
sense or construction of the principal sentence. It is for that 
reason of less importance than the unemphatic words of the 
principal sentence. It should therefore be read with less than 
' moderate ' or ' standard time.' The idea in " genius " is em- 
phatic, and should be read with enough more time (as well as 
force) than " young man " to express its greater relative im- 
portance. The accented syllable is long in " genius." The 
emphatic time may be given, therefore, mostly in quantity, 
with a short pause after the word. " Enough " needs only the 
moderate pause after it, to separate it from the conditional idea, 
" if he would only study." " Study " is as emphatic as 
"genius," but the accented syllable is short; hence, the em- 
phatic time on this Avord must be given in short quantity, and 
a longer pause after it to rill out the time. " Now the truth 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 17 

is," requires ' moderate ' time, as it is iinernphatic. " As I 
shall take the liberty to state it," requires less than moderate 
time and force, as it is of less importance, being parenthetical. 
" That the genius " is emphatic, and demands more than mod- 
erate time. " Will " is still more important, and demands three 
lines to mark its relative time in reading. " Study " is em- 
phatic in the first degree, and needs only two lines to mark its 
time. — Thus analyze all the following ideas and selections ; 
and mark, in reading them, the relative importance or emphasis 
of each, by the ' time ' as well as by the ' force ' of the voice. 
Further on in the piece above, we come to the great positive 
idea, '''attention," which must be doubly emphasized; and as 
it is repeated for emphasis, it then demands four lines to mark 
its superlative importance. 

There are few readers or speakers who make as good use of 
'time' as of 'force.' Yet 'time' gives as expressive lights 
and shades as ' force,' and should be varied as much, according 
to the same principle. In reading ' grave,' ' subdued or pa- 
thetic,' and ' noble ' sentiments, time is far more prominent than 
force, and is thus a nobler element of emphasis. Let the ex- 
ample be read many times, to fix in the reader's mind the 
principle, and the habit of applying it correctly. 

2. " What polish is to the diamond, manner is to the indi- 
vidual. It heightens the value and the charm. The manner 
is, in some sense, the mirror of the mind. It pictures and 
represents the thoughts and emotions within. We cannot 
always be engaged in expressive action. But even when we? 
are silent, even when we are not in action, there is something 
in our air and manner, which expresses what is elevated, oj 
what is low ■ what is human and benignant, or what is coarse 
and harsh. 

" The charm of manner consists in its simplicity, its grace, 
and its sincerity. How important the study of manner ! " 

This example demands ' slower ' standard time than the one 
above, because the ' general spirit ' is nobler. The emphatic 
quantity and pauses are proportionately longer. 



18 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

3. " Such | was Grace Darling, || — one of the heroines ||| 
of humanity, — || whose name | is destined to live || as long 
as the sympathies || and affections || of humanity ||| endure. || 
Such calm | heroism |i| as hers, [| — so generously || exerted for 
the good | of others, — || is one of the noblest 1 1 1 attributes of 
the soul || of man. | It had no alloy of blind | animal || pas- 
sion, | like the bravery of the soldier || on the field of battle, || 
but it was spiritual, || celestial, ||| and we may reverently 
add, | GODLIKE." IIH 



Examples of the ' animated or joyous ' kind, for 'fast ' standard 
time, and ' short ' standard pauses. 

"The Voice of Spring. 

1. "I come ! || I come ! |j| ye have called me | long ! 1 1 

I come | o'er the mountains || with light | and song ! || 
Ye may trace | my step | o'er the wakening | earth, || 
By the winds || which tell | of the violet's || birth, | 
By the primrose stars || in the shadowy grass, || 
By the green leaves || opening || as I pass. || 

" From the streams and founts I have loosed the chain, 
They are sweeping on to the silvery main, 
They are flashing down from* the mountain brows, 
They are flinging spray o'er the forest boughs, 
They are bursting fresh from their sparry caves ; 
And the earth resounds with the joy of waves ! " 

2. -''Then Fancy || her magical | pinions | spread wide, || 

And bade the young dreamer | in ecstasy || rise; || 
Now, far, | far behind him || the green waters || glide, ) 
And the cot I of his forefathers II blesses || his eyes. | 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 19 

" The jessamine || clambers | in flower | o'er the thatch, | 
And the swallow || sings sweet || from her nest | in the 
wall; | 
All trembling [ with transport, || he raises the latch, | 
And the voices | of loved ones|| reply to his call." || 

3. "Every one is doubtful what course to take, — every 
one 1 1 but Caesar ! 1 1 He | ] causes the banner 1 1 to be erected, 1 1 
the charge || to be sounded, | the soldiers at a distance | to be re- 
called, — [| all in a moment. | He runs | from place to place; || 
his whole frame |j[ is in action; || his words, || his looks, || his 
motions, || his gestures, || exhort his men | to remember | their 
former valor. || He draws them up, | and causes the signal 
to be given, — | all in a moment. | He seizes a buckler | from 
one of the private men, — [ puts himself || at the head | of his 
broken troops, — || darts into the thick || of the battle, — || 
rescues || his legions, || and overthrows ||| the enemy ! " || 

1 Grave ' examples for ' slow ' standard time. 

1. "But where, || thought I, | is the crew? || Their struggle | 
has long been over; — || they have gone down I amidst the 
roar of the tempest ; — || their bones lie whitening | in the cav- 
erns of the deep. || Silence — | ( | oblivion — |||| like the waves, || 
have closed over them ; || and no one can tell || the story of 
their end. 1 1 

"What sighs || have been wafted after that ship! || What 
prayers || offered up | at the deserted fireside of home ! || How 
often [ has the mistress, || the wife, || and the mother || pored 
over the daily news, || to catch some casual intelligence | of 
this rover of the deep! || How has expectation || darkened | 
into anxiety, — [| anxiety | into dread, — ||| and dread || into 
despair! !| Alas! || not one | memento | shall ever return | 
for love || to cherish. || All that shall ever be known, | is, J 
that she sailed from her port, || and was never || heard of|| 
more." INI 



20 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

* Grave 1 example for very 'slow time'' and very 'long pauses' 

2. " It must || be so. || Plato, || thou reasonest well ! || 

Else | whence | this pleasing hope, || this fond desire, || 

This longing 1 1 1 after immortality ? || || 

Or whence | this secret dread 1 1 1 and inward horror ] | 

Of falling into nought? |||| Why | shrinks the soul | 

Back | on herself, 1 1 and startles 1 1 at destruction 1\\\\ 

'T is the Divinity ||| that stirs | within us : || 

'T is Heaven || itself 1 1 1 that points out an hereafter, || ■ 

And intimates | Eternity 1 1 1 to man. 1 1 

Eternity ! — || || thou pleasing, — 1| dreadful thought ! " || 



' Pathetic ' example for ' slow ' standard time. 

3. "Alas! || my noble boy ! ||| that thou | shouldst die ! || 
Thou, || who wert made | so beautifully fair ! ||| 
That death 1 1 should settle | in thy glorious eye, 1 1 1 
And leave his || stillness 1 1 1 in thy clustering hair ! 1 1 1 
How could he 1 1 mark thee 1 1 j | for the silent tomb, 1 1 1 
My proud | boy, || Absalom ! " |||| 

SLIDES. 

In perfectly natural speech, the voice rises or falls on each 
unemphatic syllable through the interval of one tone only, but 
on the accented syllable of an emphatic word it rises or falls 

MORE THAN ONE TONE. 

This last is called the inflection or ' slide ' of the voice. The 
' slides ' are thus a part of emphasis, and as they give the right 
direction and limit to ' force ' and ' time,' they are the crowning 
part of perfect emphasis. 

When contrasted ideas, of equal importance, are coupled, 
nothing but the contrasted slides can give the proper distinctive 
emphasis. The slides also furnish to elocution its most ample 
and varied lights and shades of emotional expression. 

These slides are 'rising,' marked thus ( ' ) ; or 'falling,' 
marked thus ( ' ) ; or both of these blended, in the l rising ' 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 21 

circumflex, and the ' falling' circumflex, marked respectively 
thus (v) and thus (a). 

The ' rising ' and ' falling ' slides separate the great mass of 
ideas into two distinct classes ; the. first comprising all the subor- 
dinate, or incomplete, or, as we prefer to name them, the negative 
ideas ; the second comprising all the principal, or complete, or, 
as we shall call them, the positive ideas. 

The most important parts of what is spoken or written are 
those which affirm something positively, such as the facts and 
truths asserted, the principles, sentiments, and actions enjoined, 
with the illustrations, and reasons, and appeals which enforce 
them. 

All these may properly be grouped into one class, because 
they all should have the same kind of slide in reading. - 

This class we call ' positive ideas.' 

So all the other ideas which do not affirm or enjoin anything 
positively, which are circumstantial and incomplete, or in open 
contrast with the positive, all these ideas may be properly 
grouped into another single class, because they all should have 
the same kind of slide. 

This class we call ' negative ideas.' 

Grant to the words ' positive ' and ' negative ' the comprehen- 
sive meaning here given to them, and let the distinction between 
the two classes be clearly made in the preparatory analysis, and 
it will be vastly easier to understand and teach this most com- 
plicated and difficult part of elocution, the right use of the rising 
and falling slides. 

For, then, the one simple principle which follows will take 
the place, and preclude the use of, all the usual perplexing 
rules, with their many suicidal exceptions. 

PRINCIPLES FOR RISING OR FALLING SLIDES. 

Positive ideas should have the 'falling' slide; negative 
ideas should have the 'rising' slide. 

Examples for the rising and falling slides. 

" The war must go on. We must fight it through. And 
if the war must go on, why put off longer the declaration of 



22 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

independence 1 That measure will strengthen us. It will give 
us character abroad. 

" The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will create navies. 
The people, the people, if we are true to them, will carry lis, 
and will carry themselves, gloriously through this struggle. Sir, 
the declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. 
Instead of a long and bloody war for restoration of privileges, 
for redress of grievances, for chartered immunities, held under 
a British king, set before them the glorious object of entire 
independence, and it will breathe into them anew the breath 
of life. 

" Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness 
of the future, as the sim in heaven. We shall make this a gl6- 
rious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our chil- 
dren will h6nor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, 
with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual 
return, they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of sub- 
jection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, 
of gratitude, and of joy." 

QUESTIONS. 

Questions, like other ideas, are negative, or positive, or com- 
pound, having one negative and one positive idea. 

DIRECT QUESTIONS. 

The direct question, for information affirms nothing. Hence 
it is read with the rising slide, not because it may be answered 
by yes or no, but because it is in its nature negative. 

The answer is positive, and, for that reason, is read with the 
falling slide. 

" Do you see that beautiful star 1 " " Yes." 
" Isn't it splendid 1 " 

The speaker is positive, in the last question, that his friend 
will agree with him. This, and all such, must be read, there- 
fore, with the falling slide. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 23 

" I said an elder soldier, not a better. 
Did I say better?" 

" He hath brought many captives home to Eome, 
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill ; 
Did this in Caesar seem ambitions ? " 

" You all did see, that on the Liipercal, 
I thrice presented him a kingly crown ; 
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition 1 " - 

"Tell me, ye who tread the sods of yon sacred height, is 
Warren dead 1 Can you not still see him, not pale and pros- 
trate, the blood of his gallant heart pouring out of his ghastly 
wound, but moving resplendent over the field of honor, with 
the rose of heaven upon his cheek, and the fire of liberty in 
his eye?" 

" But when shall we be stronger ] Will it be the next week, 
or the next year 1 " 

This reading, with the falling slide on " year," changes the 
sense, as it makes one idea positive, and the answer must be 
" next week," or " next year." But both ideas are negative in 
Henry's speech ; both must have the rising slide, then, accord- 
ing to the principle. 

" Will it be the next week, or the next year 1 Will it be 
when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall 
be stationed in every house 1 " 

" Is this a time to be gloomy and sad, 

When our mother Nature laughs around ; 
When even the deep blue heavens look glad, 

And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground 1 " 

" ' Will you ride, in the carriage, or on horseback V 'I prefer 
to walk.'" 



24 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

" ' Will you read to us, a piece of prose, or poetry 1 ' * Allow 
me to sing instead.' " 

" Will you study music, or French 1 " ' 

All the ideas are negative in the last questions. Change the 
sense, and make one idea positive in each question, and we have 
one falling slide in each. 

" Will you ride in the carriage, or on horseback 1 " 

" Will you read to us a piece of pr6se, or poetry 1, " 

"Will you study music, or French 1 ?" 

INDIRECT QUESTIONS. 

" When are you going to Europe 1 " 

The prominent idea in this is not the real interrogative, the 
idea of time in " when," but the positive idea, " You are going 
to Europe." Hence this, and all such questions must be read 
with the falling slide. 

But if the interrogative is made the prominent and emphatic 
idea (as when, the answer not being heard, the question is 
repeated), the rising slide must be given. 

" When are you going to Europe % " 

" Why is the Forum crowded % 
What means this stir in Eome 1 " 

ADDRESS. 

The address also is positive or negative. It is negative, and 
read with the rising slide or suspension of the voice, when it is 
only formal and unemphatic ; as, "Friends, I come not here 
to talk." 

When emphatic it is positive and demands the falling slide, 
as in the respectful opening address to any deliberative body 
or public assembly. " Mr. President" " Ladies and Gentle- 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 25 



POSITIVE ADDRESS AND QUESTIONS. 

"Tell me, man of military science, in how many months 
were the Pilgrims all swept 6ff by the thirty savage tribes, 
enumerated within the early limits of New England 1 Tell me, 
politician, how long did this shadow of a colony, on which 
your conventions and treaties had not smiled, languish on the 
distant coast ? Student of history, compare for me the baffled 
projects, the abandoned adventures of other times, and find a 
parallel of this." 

" Was it the winter's storm beating upon the houseless heads 
of women and children ; was it hard labor and spare meals ; — 
was it disease, — was it the tomahawk, — was it the deep mal- 
ady of a blighted hope, a ruined enterprise, and a broken heart, 
aching in its last moments at the recollection of the loved, and 
left beyond the sea ; was it some or all of these united that 
hurried this forsaken company to their melancholy fate 1 ?" 

These questions must be read with the 'falling ' slide, to 
give the idea positively that each one of the enumerated causes 
was sufficient to produce the supposed result. The surprise is 
thus made all the greater in the next sentence, which must be 
read as an earnest negative with the long ' rising ' slide. 

" And is it possible that neither of these causes, that not all 
combined, were able to blast this bud of hope 1 Is it possible 
that from the beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy not so 
much of admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress 
so steady, a growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a 
reality so important, a promise yet to be fulfilled, so glorious ! " 

When surprise thus deepens into astonishment, as it fre- 
quently does in its climax, the interrogative form should be 
changed to the exclamatory, which demands the falling slide. 



26 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

" Partakers in every peril, in the glory shall we not be per- 
mitted to participate 1 And shall we be told as a requital that 
we are estranged from the noble country for whose salvation 
our life-blood was poured out ! " 

CONTRASTED SLIDES. 

When ideas are contrasted in couples, the rising and falling 
slides must be contrasted in reading them. Contrasted slides 
may also sometimes be used for greater variety or melody. 

EXAMPLE. 

1. " Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my 
hand and heart to this vote." 

" But, whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured that 
this declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may 
cost blo6d ; but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for 
both." 

" Suppose that you see, at once, all the hours of the day and 
all the seasons of the year, a morning of spring, and a morning 
of autumn, a night brilliant with stars, and a night obscure 
with clouds ; — you will then have a more just notion of the 
spectacle of the universe. Is it not wondrous, that while you 
are admiring the sun plunging beneath the vault of the west, 
another observer is beholding him as he quits the region of the 
east, — in the same instant reposing, weary, from the dust of the 
evening, and awaking fresh and youthful, in the dews of morn !" 

CIRCUMFLEX SLIDES. 

Straight means right, crooked means wrong: hence right 
ideas demand the right or straight slides, while wrong or 
crooked ideas demand the crooked or 'circumflex slides. 1 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 27 



PRINCIPLE. 

All sincere and earnest, or, in other words, all upright and 
downright ideas demand the straight, or upright and downright 
slides. 

All ideas which are not sincere or earnest, but are used in 
jest, or irony, in ridicule, sarcasm, or mockery, in insinuation 
or double meaning, demand the crooked or ' circumflex slides. ' 

The last part of the circumflex is usually the longer, and 
always the more characteristic part. Hence when the last part 
of this double slide rises it is called the ' rising circumflex ' ; 
when the last part falls, it is called the 'falling circumflex.' 

The ' rising circumflex ' should be given to the negative, the 
'falling circumflex' to the positive ideas of jest, irony, &c. 
When these ideas are coupled in contrast, the circumflex slides 
must be in contrast also to express them. 

Example of jest. 

Marullus. You, sir ; what trade are you 1 

2d Citizen. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am 
but, as you would say, a cobbler. 

Mar. But what trade art thou "? Answer me directly. 

2d Cit. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe 
conscience ; which is, indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles. 

Mar. What trade, thou knave ? thou naughty knave, what 
trade 1 

2d Cit. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me : yet, 
if you be out, sir, I can mend you. 

Mar. What mean'st thou by that 1 Mend me, thou saucy 
fellowl 

2d Cit. Why, sir, cobble you. 

Flavius. Thou art a cobbler, art thou 1 

2d Cit. Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl. 



28 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Flav. But wherefore art not in thy shop to-day 1 Why dost 
thou lead these men about the streets 1 

2d Cit. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes, to get myself 
into more work. But, indeed, sir, we make holiday, to see 
Gce'sar, and to rejoice in his triumph. 

In the last sentence, the citizen drops his jesting, and speaks 
in earnest ; and therefore with the straight slides. 

Examples of sarcasm and irony. 

2. " Now, sir, what was the conduct of your own allies to 
Poland 1 Is there a single atrocity of the French in Italy, in 
Switzerland, in Egypt if you please, more unprincipled and 
inhuman than that of Eussia, Austria, and Prussia, in Poland 2 

" 0, but you ' regretted the partition of Poland ! ' Yes, 
regretted ! — you regretted the violence, and that is all you 
did." 

3. " They boast they come but to improve our state, enlarge 
our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error ! Yes, they 
will give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves 
the slaves of passion, avarice, and pride ! They offer us protec- 
tion ! yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs — covering 
and devouring them ! Tell your invaders we seek no change — 
and least of all such change as they would bring us ! " 

4. " Good Lord ! when one man dies who wears a crown, 
How the earth trembles, — how the nations gape, 
Amazed and awed ! — but when that one man's victims, 
Poor worms, unclothed in purple, daily die 
In the grim cell, or on the groaning gibbet, 
Or on the civil field, ye pitying souls 
Drop not one tear from your indifferent eyes ! " 

5. Cassius. Urge me no more ! I shall forget myself; 
Have mind upon your health ; tempt me no further. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 29 

Brutus. Away, slight man ! 

Cas. Is't possible 1 

Bru. Hear me, for I will speak. 
Must I give way and room to your rash choler ] 
Shall I be frightened when a madman stares 1 

Cas. ye gods ! ye gods ! Must I endure all this 1 

Bru. All this 1 Ay, more. Fret till your proud heart break ; 
Go show your slaves how choleric you are, 
And make your bondmen tremble ! Must I budge 1 
Must I observe you % Must I stand and crouch 
Under your testy humor 1 
You shall digest the venom of your spleen, 
Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, 
I'll use you for my mirth, — yea, for my laughter, 
When you are waspish. 

Cas. Is it come to this ! 

Bru. You say you are a better soldier : 
Let it appear so ; make your vaunting true, 
And it shall please me well. For mine own part, 
I shall be glad to learn of nobler men. 

LENGTH OF SLIDES. 

The length of the slides depends on the ' general spirit ' or 
■ kind ' of what is read. 

PRINCIPLE. 

If the general spirit is 'unemotional,' the slides are 'mod- 
erate.' 

If the general spirit is 'bold,' 'joyous,' or 'noble,' the slides 
are ' long.' 

If the general spirit is ' subdued or pathetic ' or ' grave,' the 
slides are ' short.'' 



30 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Examples for the ' moderate ' slide, or in the definite language of 
music, the " Third." 
" Can I speak with you a moment 1 " " Certainly." 
"The ancient Spartans were not less remarkable for their 
bravery in the field of battle, than for brevity and wit in their 
answers. We have a memorable instance of their national 
spirit, in the reply of the old warrior who was told that the 
arrows of the Persian host flew so thick as to darken the sun. 
' So much the better,' was his answer ; ' we shall enjoy the 
advantage of fighting in the shade.' " 

Examples for the ' long ' slide, or the " Fifth." 

" What but liberty 
Through the famed course of thirteen hundred years, 
Aloof hath held invasion from your hills, 
And sanctified their name 1 And will ye, will ye 
Shrink from the hopes of the expecting world, 
Bid your high honors stoop to foreign insult, 
And in one hour give up to infamy 
The harvest of a thousand years of glory 1 
Die — all first 1 Yes, die by piecemeal ! 
Leave not a limb o'er which a Dane can triumph ! " 

" True courage but from opposition grows, 
And what are fifty, what a thousand slaves, 
Matched to the virtue of a single arm 
That strikes for liberty 1 that strikes to save 
His fields from fire, his infants from the sw6rd, 
And his large honors from eternal infamy 1 " 

" Ye men of Sweden, wherefore are ye come 1 
See ye not yonder, how the locusts swarm, 
To drink the fountains of your honor up, 
And leave your hills a desert 1 Wretched men ! 
Why came ye forth ? Is this a time for sport ] 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 31 

Or are ye met with song and jovial feast, 

To welcome your new guests, your Danish visitants 1 

To stretch your supple necks beneath their feet 

And fawning lick the dust 1 Go, go, my countrymen, 

Each to your several mansions, trim them out, 

Cull all the tedious earnings of your toil, 

To purchase bondage. — 0, Swedes ! Swedes ! 

Heavens ! are ye men and will ye suffer this 1 — 

There was a time, my friends, a glorious time ! 

When, had a single man of your forefathers 

Upon the frontier met a host in arms, 

His courage scarce had turned ; himself had stood, 

Alone had stood, the bulwark of his country." 

Example for the ' short ' slide, or the " Minor Third" 

" Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. Her little 
bird, — a poor, slight thing the pressure of a ringer would have 
crushed, — was stirring nimbly in its cage, and the strong 
heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless forever ! 

" Sorrow was dead, indeed, in her ; but peace and perfect 
happiness were born, — imaged — in her tranquil beauty and 
profound repose. 

" Waking, she never wandered in her mind but once, and 
that was at beautiful music, which, she said, was in the air ! 
God knows. It may have been. 

" Opening her eyes at last from a very quiet sleep, she 
begged that they would kiss her once again. That done, she 
turned to the old man, with a lovely smile upon her face, — 
such, they said, as they had never seen, and never could for- 
get, — and clung, with both her arms, about his neck. She 
had never murmured or complained ; but with a quiet mind, 
and manner quite unaltered, — save that she every day became 
more earnest and more grateful to them, — faded like the light 
upon the summer's evening." 



32 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 



PITCH. 



1. The 'standard pitch' or 'key-note.' 2. The 'relative 
pitch' or 'melody.' 

The middle pitch is the natural key-note for ' unemotional,' 
' bold,' and ' noble ' pieces. A higher pitch is the natural 
key-note for ' animated and joyous,' ' subdued or pathetic,' and 
' impassioned ' pieces. A lower pitch is required for ' grave ' 
pieces. 

The middle or conversational pitch must be used for all 
' kinds ' when pupils have not the requisite compass or cultiva- 
tion of voice to read naturally on a higher or a lower ' key.' 

But appropriate variety of pitch on the successive words and 
syllables is one of the most essential and beautiful parts of 
good reading. In perfect elocution, it adds to the eloquence 
of expressive emphasis the musical charm of 'natural melody.' 

NATURAL MELODY 

Is produced in part by that agreeable modulation of all the 
elements of expression, which the varied sense and feeling 
demand, yet it chiefly depends on a pleasing variation of the 
radical or opening pitch, on successive syllables. 

PRINCIPLE. 

1. Not more than two or three consecutive syllables should be 
given on the same tone of the musical scale. 

2. Natural melody demands that this frequent change of 
pitch on the unemphatic syllables shall be only one tone at a 
time. 

The unemphatic syllables form a kind of flexible laddc 
connecting the emphatic ideas, up and down which we niusfc 
glide tone by tone, so as to be in the right place to give the 
longer slides on the emphatic words without an unmelodious 
break in the natural current of the voice, which should flow on 
smoothly through all changes (unless there is an abrupt break 
in the ideas), just as a good road runs on over ever-varying 
hills and vales without once losing its smooth continuity. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 33 

Melody demands that the pitch on consecutive emphatic 
words also be agreeably varied. Our limited space will not 
allow us to mark the many possible permutations of pitch, 
which may constitute natural melody. We will only repeat 
the important general directions. Avoid monotony, by giving 
at most only two or three consecutive syllables, on the same 
tone. 

Avoid making unnatural changes of pitch, of more than one 
tone at a time. 

Glide up the scale on the negative ideas, so that you will 
have room above the key-note, to slide down easily on the posi- 
tive ideas. 

COMPASS. 

The compass of voice which should be used also depends on 
the ' spirit ' of the piece. 

The most 'joyous' and most 'impassioned' demand the 
widest range of pitch, and the greatest natural variety. 

The ' unemotional ' demands only moderate compass. The 
'grave' demands still less variety and compass. And when 
the ' grave ' deepens into supernatural awe or horror, by the 
same analogy, we may infer that natural variety or melody 
gives place to an unnatural sameness of utterance, with just 
that little variety of all the vocal elements which is necessary 
to express the sense at all. 

Example for ' middle pitch' and l moderate compass.' 

" It is these which I love and venerate in England. I 
should feel ashamed of an enthusiasm for Italy and Greece, 
did I not also feel it for a land like this. In an American, it 
would seem to me degenerate and ungrateful, to hang with 
passion upon the traces of Homer and Yirgil, and follow with- 
out emotion the nearer and plainer footsteps of Shakespeare 
and Milton." 

' Joyous ' example for ' higher pitch ' and l wider compass.' 

" There was a sound of revelry by night, 

And Belgium's capital had gathered then 



34 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Her beauty and her chivalry ; and bright 

The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men. 

A thousand hearts beat happily, and when 
Music arose with its voluptuous swell, 

Soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again, 
And all went merry as a marriage-bell." 

' Grave ' example for ' lower pitch ' and less than ' moderate 
compass. 1 
" And, — when I am forgotten, as I shall be, 
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention 
Of me more must be heard of, — say I taught thee ; 
Say, Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory, 
And sounded all the depths and shoals of honor, 
Found thee a way, out? of his wreck, to rise in, 
A sure and safe one, though thy master missed it. 
Mark but my fall, and that that ruined me. 
Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition : 
By that sin fell the angels ; how can man then, 
The image of his Maker, hope to win by 't ] 
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, 
Thy God's, and truth's : then, if thou fall'st, Cromwell ! 
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr ! " 

VOLUME. 

' Full volume ' is the most essential element in the truthful 
expression of ' noble ' sentiment. 

1. " Mind is the n6blest part of man ; and of mind, vIrtue 
is the noblest distinction. Honest man, in the ear of Wisdom, 
is a grander name, is a more high-sounding title, than peer of 
the realm, or prince of the blood. According to the eternal 
rules of celestial precedency, in the immortal heraldry of Nature 
and of Heaven, virtue takes place of all things. It is the 
nobility of angels ! It is the majesty of GOD ! " 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 35 

In addition to 'full volume,' 'noble' pieces demand slow 
time, or long quantity and pauses, long slides, and loud but 
smooth-swelling force on the emphatic words. Full volume 
distinguishes manly sentiments from the thin or fine tone of 
child-like emotions. 

2. " But strew his ashes to the wind, 

Whose sword or voice has served mankind. 
And is he dead whose glorious mind 

Lifts thine on high 1 
To live in hearts we leave behind, 

Is not to die. 

" Is 't death to fall for Freedom's right % 
He's dead alone that lacks her light ! 
And Murder sullies in Heaven's sight 

The sword he draws : — 
What can alone ennoble fight 1 

A noble cause ! " 



STRESS. 

Stress is not the degree but the kind of emphatic force we 
use. The same degree of loudness may be given to a syllable 
abruptly and suddenly, as in sharp command, or smoothly and 
gradually, as in the noble examples given above. This sudden 
and harsh kind of force we will call ' abrupt stress ' ; the other, 
' smooth stress.' 

PRINCIPLE. 

' Abrupt stress ' should be given to all abrupt or harsh ideas, 
and pleasant or ' smooth stress ' to all good or pleasant ideas. 

Mere command is abrupt ; indignation, anger, defiance, re- 
venge, &c, are all abrupt in their very nature ; and, therefore, 
must be read with the ' abrupt stress.' 



36 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

ABRUPT STRESS. 

1. Impatient command. 

" Hence I home, you Idle creatures, get you home. 
You blocks, you st6nes, you WORSE than senseless things ! 
Be gone ! 

Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, 
Pray to the gods to intermit the plague 
That needs must light on this ingratitude." 

The force must be thrown with an abrupt jerk on the emphatic 
syllables. 

2. Anger. [Loud as well as i abrupt ' force and ' long 
slides.'') 

" Cassius. That you have wronged me doth appear in this ; 
You have condemned and noted Lucius Pella, 
For taking bribes here of the Sardians ; 
Wherein, my letter, praying on his side, 
Because I knew the man, was slighted off. 

Brutus. You wronged yourself to write in such a case. 

Cas. In such a time as this it is not meet 
That every nice offense should bear its comment, 

Bru. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself 
Are much condemned to have an itching palm ; 
To sell and mart your offices for gold 
To undeservers. 

Cas. I an itching palm 1 
You know that you are Brutus that speak this, 
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last. 

Bru. The name of Cassius honors this corruption, 
And chastisement does therefore hide his head. 

Cas. Chastisement % 

Bru. Remember March, the ides of March remember. 
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake 1 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 37 

What villain touched his body, that did stab, 
And not for justice 1 What ! shall one of us, 
That struck the foremost man of all this world, 
But for supporting robbers, — shall we now 
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes, 
And sell the mighty space of our large honors, 
For so much trash as may be grasped thus 1 
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon, 
Than such a Roman." 

3. Defiance. (Very ' abrupt ' and ' loud,'' with Hong slides.'') 

" I have returned, not as the right honorable member has 
said, to raise another storm, — I have returned to protect that 
constitution, of which I was the parent and the founder, from 
the assassination of such men as the honorable gentleman and 
his unworthy assdciates. They are corrupt — they are sedi- 
tious — and they, at this very moment, are in a conspiracy 
against their country ! Here I stand for impeachment or trial ! 
I dare accusation ! I defy the honorable gentleman ! I defy 
the government ! I defy their whole PHALANX ! Let them 
come forth ! I tell the ministers I will neither give them quarter, 
nor take it ! " 

4. Indignation. 

"Who is the man, that, in addition to the disgraces and 
mischiefs of the war, has dared to authorize and associate to 
our arms the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the savage 1 ? — 
to call into civilized alliance the wild and inhuman inhabitant of 
the woods % — to delegate to the merciless Indian the defense 
of disputed rights, and to wage the horrors of his barbarous 
war against our brethren'? My lords, we are called upon as 
members of this house, as men, as Christian men, to protest 
against such horrible barbarity." 



38 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

SMOOTH STRESS. 

All pleasant and good ideas demand ' smooth stress ' or force, 
free from all abruptness. 

In 'joyous' pieces, when the time is fast, the stress must be 
given with a lively, springing swell of the voice, which throws 
the force smoothly on the middle of the sound. Hence it is 
called the ' median ' stress. 

'Animated and joyous' examples for smooth stress. 

1. " His cares flew away, 

And visions of happiness danced o'er his mind. 

" He dreamed of his h6me, of his dear native bowers, 
And pleasures that waited on life's merry morn ; 
While memory each scene gayly covered with floVers, 
And rest6red every rose, but secreted its thorn." 

In the following example of ' noble,' manly joy, the happy 
median stress swells with the same smooth, springing force as 
above, but with more fullness and longer quantity and pauses. 

2. ''Fellow Citizens, — I congratulate you, — I give you joy, 
on the return of this anniversary. I see, before and around me, 
a mass of faces, glowing with cheerfulness and patriotic pride. 
This anniversary animates and gladdens and unites all American 
hearts. Every man's heart swells within him, — every man's 
port and bearing becomes somewhat more proud and lofty, as 
he remembers that seventy-five years have rolled away, and 
that the great inheritance of liberty is still his ; his, undimin- 
ished and unimpaired ; his, in all its original glory ; his to enjoy, 
his to protect, and his to transmit to future generations." 

' Subdued ' example for gentle but happy median or smooth stress. 

" At last, Malibran came ; and the child sat with his glance 
riveted upon her glorious face. Could he believe that the grand 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 39 

lady, all blazing with jewels, and whom everybody seemed to 
worship, would really sing his little song 1 Breathless he waited ; 
• — the band, the whole band, struck up a little plaintive melody. 
He knew it, and clapped his hands for joy. 

" And oh ! how she sung it ! It was so simple, so mournful, 
so soul-subduing ; — many a bright eye dimmed with tears ; and 
nought could be heard but the touching words of that little 
song, — oh ! so touching ! 

" Little Pierre walked home as if he were moving on the air. 
What cared he for money now 1 ? The greatest singer in all 
Europe had sung his little song, and thousands had wept at 
his grief. 

"Thus she, who was the idol of England's nobility, went 
about doing good. And in her early, happy death, when the 
grave-damps gathered over her brow, and her eyes grew dim, 
he who stood by her bed, his bright face clothed in the mourn- 
ing of sighs and tears, and smoothed her pillow, and lightened 
her last moments by his undying affection, was the little Pierre 
of former days, — now rich, accomplished, and the most talented 
composer of his day." 

'Noble 9 example for prolonged, full-swelling median or smooch 

stress. 

" We must forget all feelings save the one ; 
We must behold no object save our country ; — 
And only look on death as beautiful, 
So that the sacrifice ascend to Heaven, 
And draw down freedom on her evermore. 
' But if we fail 1 ' They never fail, who die 
In a great cause ! The block may soak their gore ; 
Their heads may sodden in the sun ; their limbs 
Be strung to city gates and castle walls ; — 
But still their spirit walks abroad. Though years 



40 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Elapse, and others share as dark a doom, 

They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts 

Which overpower all others, and conduct 

The world, at last, to freedom ! " 

Examples for the longest * quantity ' and fullest ' swell ' of the 
median or smooth stress. 

" liberty ! O sound once delightful to every Eoman ear ! 
sacred privilege of Eoman citizenship ! once sacred, — now 
trampled on ! " 

" Ye crags and peaks, I'm with you once again ! 
O sacred forms, how proud you look ! 
How high you lift your heads into the sky ! 
How huge you are ! how mighty and how free ! 

" Ye guards of liberty, 
I'm with you once again." 

"The land that bore you — O ! 
Do honor to her ! Let her glory in 
Your breeding." 

" These are Thy glorious works, Parent of Good. 
Almighty ! Thine this universal frame, 
Thus wondrous fair ! Thyself how wondrous, then ! " 

Example for 'noble' but happy ' median stress.' 

" The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 
" He maketh me to lie down in green pastures ; He leadeth 
me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul." 

QUALITY OF VOICE. 

Quality of voice is 'pure' or 'impure.' 
It is 'pure' when all the breath used is vocalized. 
It is ' impure ' or aspirated when only a part of the breath is 
vocalized. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 41 

PRINCIPLE. 

' Pure quality ' should be used to express all good and agree- 
able ideas. 

* Impure quality' or aspirated, should be used to express all 
bad or disagreeable ideas. 

Examples of ' impure quality.' 

Painful earnestness or anxiety demands this ' aspirated qual- 
ity ' with ' abrupt stress' 

1. " Take care ! your very life is endangered ! " 

2. " Oh ! 'twas a fearsome sight ! Ah me ! 

A deed to shudder at, — not to see." 

3. " While thronged the citizens with terror dumb, 

Or whispering with white lips, 'The foe! they come, they 
come ! ' " 

4. " He springs from his hammock, he flies to the deck, — 

Amazement confronts him with images dire, — 
Wild winds and mad waves drive the vessel a wreck : 
The masts fly in splinters, the shrouds are on fire ! 

" Like mountains the billows tremendously swell : 
In vain the lost wretch calls on mercy to save ; 
Unseen hands of spirits are ringing his knell, 

And the death-angel flaps his broad wing o'er the wave." 

Extreme aspiration should mark the fear and horror in the 
following words of Macbeth. 

5. " I'll go no more : 
I am afraid to think what I have done ; 
Look on't again I dare not." 

Strong aspiration and ' abrupt stress. 1 

6. " I am astonished, shocked, to hear such principles con- 
fessed, — to hear them avowed in this house, or in this country; 
— principles equally unconstitutional, inhuman, and unchris- 
tian ! " 



42 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

1 Bold ' and ' impassioned ' examples for very ' abrupt stress ' and 
1 aspirated quality ' on the emphatic words. 

7. " It was the act of a coward, who raises his arm to strike, 
but has not the courage to give the blow ! I will not call him 
villain, because it would be unparliamentary, and he is a privy 
councilor. I will not call him fool, because he happens to be 
chancellor of the exchequer. But I say he is one who has abused 
the privilege of parliament and freedom of debate, to the utter- 
ing of language which, if spoken out of the house, I should 
answer only with a blow ! I care not how high his situation, 
how low his character, or how contemptible his speech ; whether 
a privy councilor or a parasite, my answer would be a blow ! " 

8. " The wretch, who, after having seen the consequences of 
a thousand errors, continues still to blunder, and whose age has 
only added obstinacy to stupidity, is surely the object of either 
abhorrence or contempt, and deserves not that his gray hairs 
should secure him from insult." 

9. "If ye are beasts, then stand here like fat oxen waiting 
for the butcher's knife." 

This quality of voice demands that the aspirates and the 
less resonant consonants be made very prominent in the enun- 
ciation, while the purer vowels and the liquid, pleasant conso- 
nants reserve their prominence till pure tone is required. 

All examples of ' aspirated quality ' require abrupt stress. 

' Contemptuous and ironical ' example. 

10. " But base ignoble slaves, — slaves to a horde 
Of petty tyrants, feudal despots, lords 
Rich in some dozen paltry villages, — 
Strong in some hundred spearmen, — only great 
In that strange spell — a name." 

Examples of ' pure quality. ,' 
1. "That which befits us, imbosomed in beauty and wonder 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 43 

as we are, is cheerfulness and courage, and the endeavor to 
realize our aspirations." 

Example of 'pure tone,' with lively median stress. 

2. "It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the 
Queen of France, then the Dauphiness, at Versailles, and surely 
never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a 
more delightful vision. 

" I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering 
the elevated sphere she just began to move in, glittering like 
the morning-star, full of life, and splendor, and joy." 

1 Lower pitch ' and ' slower time.' ' Long quantity,' and pro- 
longed median stress. 

3. "0! what a revolution ! and what a heart must I have 
to contemplate without emotion that elevation and that fall ! 
Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters 
fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men 
of honor, and of cavaliers ! I thought ten thousand swords 
must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look 
that threatened her with insult. 

" But the age of chivalry is gone, and the glory of Europe is 
extinguished forever." 

The following selection from Shelley's " To a Skylark," is 
full of rapturous beauty, and requires the 'purest tone ' and the 
smoothest and happiest ' median stress,' prolonged with swelling 
fullness on the emphatic words : — 

4. " Hail to thee, blithe spirit, — 

Bird thou never wert, — 
That from heaven, or near it, 
Pourest thy full heart 
In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 

" Higher still and higher 

From the earth thou springest ; 
Like a cloud of fire, 



44 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

The blue deep thou wingest, 
And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. 

" In the golden lightning 
Of the sunken sun, 
O'er which clouds are brightening, 
Thou dost float and run, 
Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun. 

" All the earth and air 

With thy voice is loud, 
As, when night is bare, 
From one lonely cloud 
The moon rains out her beams, and heaven is overflowed. 

" What thou art, we know not ; 
What is most like thee 1 
From rainbow clouds there flow not 
Drops so bright to see, 
As from thy presence showers a rain of melody. 

" Better than all measures 
Of delightful sound, 
Eetter than all treasures 
That in books are found, 
Thy skill to poet were," thou scorner of the ground ! 

" Teach me half the gladness 
That thy brain must know, 
Such harmonious madness 
From my lips would flow, 
The world should listen then, as I am listening now." 

'Noble' example for 'pure tone,' to be given also with full ' me- 
dian stress.' 

" We wish that this column, rising towards heaven among 
the pointed spires of so many temples dedicated to God, may 
contribute also to produce, in all minds, a pious feeling of de- 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 45 

pendence and gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last object 
on the sight of him who leaves his native shore, and the first 
to gladden him who revisits it, may be something which shall 
remind him of the liberty and glory of his country. Let it 
rise till it meet the sun in his coming ; let the earliest light of 
morning gild it, and parting day linger and play upon its sum- 
mit." 

'Subdued examples' for very soft force, ' short slides? gentle 
' median stress,' and the 'purest quality! 

" I thought to pass away before, and yet alive I am ; 
And in the fields all round I hear the bleating of the lamb. 
How sadly, I remember, rose the morning of the year ! 
To die before the snowdrop came, and now the violet 's here. 
O, sweet is the new violet, that comes beneath the skies, 
And sweeter is the young iamb's voice to me that cannot rise, 
And sweet is all the land about, and all the flowers that blow, 
And sweeter far is death than life to me that long to go. 

" look ! the sun begins to rise, the heavens are in a glow ; 
He shines upon a hundred fields, and all of them I know. 
sweet and strange it seems to me, that ere this day is done, 
The voice that now is speaking may be beyond the sun — 
Forever and forever ; all in a blessed home — 
And there to wait a little while till you and Effie come — 
To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your breast — 
And the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at 
rest." 

'Joyous' example for 'pure quality' and happy 'median stress.' 

" And what is so rare as a day in June % 
Then, if ever, come perfect days ; 
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 
And over it softly her warm ear lays : 



46 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Whether we look, or whether we listen, 
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten ; 
Every clod feels a stir of might, 

An instinct within it that reaches and towers, 
And, groping blindly above it for light, 

Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers ; 
The little bird sits at his door in the sun, 

Atilt like a blossom among the leaves, 
And lets his illumined being o'errun 

With the deluge of summer it receives." 

A striking example of both qualities may be taken from the 
dialogue between " Old Shylock" and " Portia." The tones of 
Shylock's voice, to express his spite and revenge, must be marked 
by the most abrupt ' stress ' and ' aspirated or impure quality ; ' 
while the beautiful sentiments of Portia demand the ''smoothest 
stress 1 and 'purest quality.' 

" Portia. Do you confess the bond ? 
Antonio. I do. 

Por. Then must the Jew be merciful. 
Shylock. On what compulsion must I? Tell me that. 
Por. The quality of mercy is not strained ; 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed ; 
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes : 
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 
The throned monarch better than his crown : 
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, 
It is an attribute to God himself, 
And earthly power doth then show likest God's, 
When mercy seasons justice." 



Having thus treated of, and illustrated with various kinds of 
pieces, each one of the elements of elocution, separately, let us 
now finish our work by learning how all these separate elements 
unite together and blend in the natural expression of each ' kind ' 
of sentiment. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 47 

' Unemotional ' pieces should have 'moderate' 'standard 
force' and 'time' and 'slides' and 'volume,' 'middle pitch,' 
' smooth stress,' and ' pure quality ' of voice. 

Unemotional example. 
" There is something nobly simple and pure in a taste for the 
cultivation of forest trees. It argues, I think, a sweet and gen- 
erous nature, to have a strong relish for the beauties of vegeta- 
tion, and a friendship for the hardy and glorious sons of the 
forest. He who plants an oak looks forward to future ages, 
and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. 
He cannot expect to sit in its shade and enjoy its shelter; but 
he exidts in the idea that the acorn which he has buried in the 
earth shall grow up into a lofty pile, and shall keep on flour- 
ishing and increasing and benefiting mankind, long after he 
shall have ceased to tread his paternal fields." 

'Bold' pieces should have 'loud' 'standard force,' 'long 
slides,' 'moderate time,' with long quantity on the emphatic 
syllables, 'middle pitch,' 'abrupt stress,' and slightly 'aspirated 
quality.' 

Bold example. 

" Who, then, caused the strife 
That crimsoned Naseby's field and Marston's Moor 1 
It was the Stuart ; — so the Stuart fell ! 
A victim, in the pit himself had digged ! 
He died not, sirs, as hated kings have died, 
In secret and in shade, — no eye to trace 
The one step from their prison to their pall : 
He died in the eyes of Europe, — in the face 
Of the broad heaven ; amidst the sons of England, 
Whom he had outraged ; by a solemn sentence, 
Passed by a solemn court. Does this seem guilt 1 
You pity Charles ! 'tis well ; but pity more 
The tens of thousand honest humble men, 
Who, by the tyranny of Charles compelled 
To draw the sword, fell, butchered in the field ! " 



48 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

'Animated or joyous' pieces should have 'fast time/ lively, 
springing 'median stress,' ' pure quality,' 'long slides,' ' high 
pitch,' and 'loud force.' 

Joyous example. 

" You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear, 

To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-Year; 

Of all the glad New-Year, mother, the maddest, merriest day ; 

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' 

the May. 

" I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, 
If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break : 
But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands 

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' 
the May." 

'Subdued or pathetic' pieces should have 'soft force,' 'short 
(or minor) slides,' 'slow time,' gentle 'median stress,' 'pure 
quality,' ' high pitch,' and less than ' moderate volume.' 

Subdued or pathetic example. 

" If you're waking, call me early, call me early, mother dear, 
For I would see the sun rise upon the glad New- Year. 
It is the last New- Year that I shall ever see, 
Then you may lay me low i' the mold, and think no more of me. 

" To-night I saw the sun set ! he set and left behind 
The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind, 
And the New- Year's coming up, mother, but I shall never see 
The blossom on the blackthorn, the leaf upon the tree." 

'Grave' pieces should have 'low pitch,' 'slow time,' with 
'long quantity and pauses,' 'full volume,' 'soft force,' and 
< short slides' — also 'smooth stress' and 'pure quality' when 
the ideas are reverential or solemn merely — but more or less 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 49 

' abrupt stress ' and ' aspirated quality ' when characterized by 
fear or aversion, as in ' dread,' ' awe,' and ' horror.' 

Grave example. 

" Come to the bridal chamber, — Death ! 
Come to the mother, when she feels 
For the first time her first-born's breath ; 
Come when the blessed seals 
That close the pestilence are broke, 
And crowded cities wail its stroke ; 
Come in Consumption's ghastly form, 
The earthquake shock, the ocean storm, 
Come when the heart beats high and warm 
"With banquet-song and dance and wine, — 
And thou art terrible ! the tear, — 
The groan, — the knell, — the pall, — the bier, 
And all we know, or dream, or fear, 
Of agony are thine." 

* Noble ' pieces should have ' full-swelling volume ' and 
( median stress,' with ' long quantity ' and ' long slides,' * loud 
force,' ' pure quality,' and ' middle pitch.' 

Noble example. 
" But to the hero, when his sword 
Has won the battle for the free, 
Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word, 
And in its hollow tones are heard 
The thanks of millions yet to be. 
Bozzaris ! with the storied Brave 
Greece nurtured in her glory's time, 
Rest thee ! there is no prouder grave, 
Even in her own proud clime. 
We tell thy doom without a sigh ; 
For thou art Freedom's now and Fame's, — 
One of the few, the immortal names, 
That were not born to die ! " 



50 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Both ' ludicrous ' and ' sarcastic ' pieces should have long 
'circumflex slides' and 'compound' 'abrupt stress,' 'long 
quantity and pauses' on the emphatic words; but punning and 
raillery, when good-natured, should have a 'higher pitch,' 
' faster time,' and ' purer quality ' than belongs to sarcasm, 
which should have the ' middle pitch,' ' aspirated quality,' and 
rather ' slow time.' With both kinds the ' force ' changes from 
' moderate ' to louder with the boldness of the spirit. 

In the following example the part of Sir Peter Teazle should 
be read with strongly ' aspirated quality ' and ' abrupt stress,' 
while the half-laughing raillery of Lady T. should have the 
' pure quality ' and ' tremulous stress ' mingled with the ' com- 
pound,' and ' higher pitch,' and ' less volume.' 



Ludicrous or sarcastic example. 

" Sir Peter. Very well, ma'am, very well — so a husband 
is to have no influence, no authority 1 

Lady T. Authority ! No, to be sure : — if you wanted 
authority over me, you should have adopted me, and not mar- 
ried me; I am sure you were old enough. 

Sir P. Old enough ! — ay, there it is. Well, well. Lady 
Teazle, though my life may be made unhappy by your temper, 
I'll not be ruined by your extravagance. 

Lady T. My extravagance ! Sir Peter, am I to blame be- 
cause flowers are dear in cold weather 1 You should find fault 
with the climate, and not with me. For my part, I'm sure, I 
Avish it was spring all the year round, and that roses grew 
under our feet ! 

Sir P. Zounds ! madam — if you had been born to this, I 
shouldn't wonder at your talking thus ; but you forget what 
your situation was when I married you. 

Lady T. No, no, I don't ; 'twas a very disagreeable one, 
or I should never have married you. Sir Peter ! would you 
have me be out of the fashion 1 

Sir P. The fashion, indeed ! What had you to do with 
the fashion before you married me 1 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 51 

Lady T. For my part, I should think you would like to 
have your wife thought a woman of taste. 

Sir P. Ay, there again — taste. Zounds ! madam, you 
had no taste when you married me ! 

Lady T. That's very true, indeed, Sir Peter ; and after 
having married you I should never pretend to taste again, I 
allow. But now, Sir Peter, since we have finished our daily 
jangle, I presume I may go to my engagement at Lady Sneer- 
well's. 

Sir P. Ay, there's another precious circumstance — a 
charming set of acquaintance you have made there." 

Example of bitter irony and sarcasm closing with the impas- 
sioned kind. 

" I speak not to you, Mr. Penwick, of your own outcast 
condition ; — perhaps you delight in the perils of martyrdom : 
1 speak not to those around us, who, in their persons, their 
substance, and their families, have endured the torture, pov- 
erty, and irremediable dishonor. They may be meek and hal- 
lowed men, willing to endure ; and as for my wife — what 
was she to you 1 Ye cannot be greatly disturbed that she is in 
her grave. No, ye are quiet, calm, prudent persons ; it would 
be a most indiscreet thing of yon, you who have suffered no 
wrongs yourselves, to stir on her account. 

" In truth, friends, Mr. Eenwick is quite right. This feel- 
ing of indignation against our oppressors is a most imprudent 
thing. If Ave desire to enjoy our own contempt, to deserve 
the derision of men, and to merit the abhorrence of Heaven, let 
us yield ourselves to all that Charles Stuart and his sect re- 
quire. We can do nothing better, nothing so meritorious, — 
nothing by which we can so reasonably hope for punishment 
here and condemnation hereafter. But if there is one man at 
this meeting, — I am speaking not of shapes and forms, but 
of feelings, — if there is one here that feels as men were wont 
to feel, he will draw his sword, and say with me, Woe to the 
Louse of Stuart ! woe to the oppressors ! " 



52 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

1 Impassioned ' pieces, such as the last of the example above 
and the following, should have ' very loud force,' ' very long 
slides,' i very abrupt stress.' Time accelerating as the passion 
cumulates, from ' moderate ' to ' faster,' with ' very long quan- 
tity ' on the emphatic words, 'middle and higher pitch' and 
' quality ' (where the passion is not malignant), only slightly 
' aspirated.' 

Impassioned example. 

" ' My castles are my king's alone, 
From turret to foundation stone ; 
The hand of Douglas is his own, 
And never shall in friendly grasp 
The hand of such as Marmion clasp ! ' 
Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek like fire, 
And shook his very frame for ire, 
And ' This to me ! ' he said ; 
1 An't were not for thy hoary beard, 
Such hand as Marmion's had not spared 
To cleave the Douglas' head ! 
And, Douglas, more I tell thee here 
E'en in thy pitch of pride, 
Here, in thy hold, thy vassals near, 
I tell thee, thou'rt defied ! 
And if thou saidst I am not peer 
To any lord in Scotland here, 
Lowland or Highland, far or near, 
Lord Angus, thou hast lied ! ' 
On the earl's cheek the flush of rage 
O'ercame the ashen hue of age ; 
Fierce he broke forth : ' And dar'st thou, then, 
To beard the lion in his den, 
The Douglas in his hall 1 
And hop'st thou hence unscathed to go % 
No ! by Saint Bride of Both well, no ! 
Up drawbridge, groom ! What, warder, ho ! 
Let the portcullis fall ! ' " 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 53 



POETIC READING. 

To read poetry well we must study, — 

I. The ideas, — the sense and spirit. 

II. The meter, — the kind and number of "feet" in the 
respective lines. 

III. The proper blending of the sense and the measure, — 
the rhythm of the verse. 

The first and most important part — the right reading of 
the sense and spirit — we have anticipated in our general in- 
structions. 

MEASURE AND METER. 

The agreeable variety of accented and unaccented syllables, of 
longer and shorter quantities, in our English speech, is rendered 
more pleasing to the ear in English verse by being arranged in 
some regular proportion and order and recurrence. 

In the regular proportion of one accented to one unaccented 
syllable we have, as a unit of measure, the dissyllabic foot, 
called an iambus or a trochee, according as it is arranged in the 
one or the other of two regular orders. 

first order {iambic). 

"Must we ! but blush? j our fa | thers bled." 

second order {trochaic). 

"Lives of | great men | all re | mind us." 

In the regular proportion of one accented to two unaccented 
syllables we have, as a unit of measure, the trisyllabic foot, 
called an anapaest, or a dactyl, according as it is arranged in the 
one or the other of two regular orders. 

first order (anapcestic). 

" 'Tis the clime | of the east, | 'tis the land | of the sun." 

second order (dactylic). 

" Strew the fair | garlands where | slumber the | dead." 



54 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

The foot is easily determined by the number and order of the 
unaccented syllables. 

The meter is determined by the number of feet in the respec- 
tive lines; as " five-foot," "four-foot," " two-foot," and "four- 
foot" in the order given in the lines below, in "iambic measure." 

" There was | a time | when mead | ow, grove, | and stream, 

The earth | and ev | ery com | mon sight, 

To me | did seem 

Appar | eled in | celes | tial light." 

PROSAIC READING AND " SING-SONG." 

The two great faults in the reading of poetry are, prosaic 
reading, which aims to give the meaning only, with no regard 
for the music of verse, and scanning, or "sing-song," which 
chops the lines into their metric parts, and emphasizes each 
foot separately, with a monotonous movement, accent, and 
pause, which destroy both the sense and the melody. 

To remedy the first fault, which turns poetry into prose, the 
measure must be made the prominent study for a while. Musi- 
cal lines, in which the thoughts and words flow smoothly into, 
and fill the meter, must be often read, until the ear and taste 
learn to appreciate their metric charm. 

To remedy the fault of " sing-song," which overmarks the 
meter, the sense must be especially emphasized for a time, and 
the words grouped to give the meaning rather than the meter. 

But to remedy both .of these extremes, the rhythm, which 
harmonizes the sense and the measure, must be mastered. 

RHYTHM. 

The foot and meter of verse may be shown by merely scan- 
ning it, but the rhythm can be heard only as the flowing whole 
is read. 

Ehythm is the opposite of scanning. Scanning is the anal- 
ysis or cutting up of the lines into their separate feet. Rhythm 
is the synthesis, or flowing together of the separate feet into 
such larger groups, and with such varying accent and measured 
time, as give both the sense and melody of verse. 



INTRODUCTORY' TREATISE. 55 

A little scanning is introduced here partly to show what not 
to do in reading, and partly to present more clearly, by con- 
trast, the nature and use of rhythm. 

RHYTHMIC GROUPING, ACCENT, AND PAUSES. 

" The mel | anchol | y days | are come, | the sad | dest of | 
the year, 
Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and 
sere." 

In scanning this hrst line of "seven-foot" meter in the usual 
way, it is divided into seven groups, with seven uniform accents 
and pauses. 

In the rhythmic reading, which accords with the sense, these 
seven " feet " flow naturally into only two groups. 

And the seven monotonous accents also are changed to four 
significant ones which give the meaning, and three unemphatic 
ones merely metric, so light as not to mar the sense or How, and 
yet distinct enough to preserve the meter ; as thus : — 

" The melancholy days are come, — ■ 
The saddest of the year" 

The seven feet of the second line flow into three groups. 
Note how the sense so fills the measure in this line that the 
emphatic and metric accents agree in number. 

" Of wailing winds — and naked woods — 
And meadows brown and sere." 

Observe, also, that the " seven-foot " meter of the lines just 
quoted may as well be written and read as they are here grouped, 
in the "common meter" of alternate "four-foot" and "three- 
foot " lines. 

This shows that mere meter has less to do with natural reading than 
rhythmic grouping. The lines in Shakespeare are nearly all of one meas- 
ure and meter, and would sound much alike in scanning. Yet what in- 
finite variety of grouping and expression they demand in their perfect 
reading. 



56 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

TIME AS MOVEMENT AND QUANTITY. 

In lines like the last the feet are numbered by the accents, 
and so they are in trisyllabic measure. 

" For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams 
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee, 
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes 
Of my beautiful Annabel Lee." 

The number of accents are the same in these lines ; but the 
movement and time mark the difference in the rhythm and meas- 
sure. Time is the chief element in the measurement of verse. 

The standard time, as fast or slow, varies, as in prose, with 
the spirit of the poem ; but the relative time in verse is metric, 
— that is to say, the several feet which flow together in a given 
logical group should have an equal share of the time given to 
that group. One whole group may be joyous, and the next 
group may be sad, and so the general time change suddenly 
from fast to slow : but the associated feet may and should be 
measured with equable time, if the poet's chosen words allow 
of it ; and if they do not allow of this, then the verse is not 
musical, and the sense alone should be read. 

THE FINAL AND CLESURAL PAUSES. 

Pauses in verse, as in prose, are used to separate the ideas. 
The lines are usually separated from each other by a pause 
demanded by the sense. But when the sense would group the 
last of one line with the first of the next line, the sense and 
rhythm both forbid any final pause. The voice should linger 
on the final foot long enough to give its full metric quantity, 
but no break is allowable. 

" And dark as winter — was the flow 
Of Iser, rolling rapidly." 

" All is finished ! and at length 
Has come the bridal day 
Of beauty and of strength." 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 57 

" Beady to be 
The bride of the gray old sea." 

In the last example the quantity of the foot "to be" is length- 
ened to fill the metric time, and to mark the rhyme with " sea." 

In Bryant's " Forest Hymn," in " five-foot " iambic verse, 
several consecutive lines flow on with no final pause. 

" For his simple heart 
Might not resist the sacred influences, 
Which from the stilly twilight of the place, 
And from the gray old trunks that high in heaven 
Mingled their mossy boughs, and from the sound 
Of the invisible breath that swayed at once 
All their green tops, stole over him and bowed 
His spirit with the thought of boundless power 
And inaccessible majesty. Ah, why 
Should we, in the world's riper years, neglect 
God's ancient sanctuaries, and adore 
Only among the crowd, and under roofs 
That our frail hands have raised'?" 

THE C^ISURAL PAUSE. 

The " caesura " is a peculiar pause of the sense in the line 
which breaks a foot, one part of which foot flows with the 
group before the pause, and the other part of the same foot 
flows with the group after the pause. 

This caesura does not affect the rhythm or reading of verse 
any more than other pauses. It affects the scanning merely. 
This caesural foot is often made of two short and unaccented 
syllables, and is then marked by time only. 

The time of the natural pauses of emphasis, and pauses 
which separate the ideas, is counted in reading the lines only so 
far as it is needed to equalize the measure. When thus needed, 
the pause affects the measure like a rest in music. 



58 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

"When Free | dom — from | her moun | tain height 
Unfurled | her stand | ard — to | the air, 
She tore the azure robe of night, 
And set the stars of glory there ! " 

In the second foot of the first, and in the third foot of the 
second line occurs the ccesural foot, unaccented. In reading 
these lines, a rest equivalent to a short syllable is needed in 
the caBsural feet. 

" When Free | dom ^ from | her moun | tain height 
Unfurled | her stand | ard ^ to | the air." 

The poet in this example has utilized the short pause, mak- 
ing it an essential part of the measure, and the lines musical. 
In the other lines the syllables alone fill the measure. 

Sometimes the pause of emphasis is likewise used as a pro- 
portional part of the measure of a line. 

"Hark! | 'tis the voice | of the moun | tain, 
And it speaks | to our heart | in its pride, 
And it tells | of the bear | ing of he | roes 
Who com | passed its sum | mits and died." 

Observe the use of the emphatic monosyllabic foot "hark" 
and of the dissyllabic foot at the beginning of the last line 
" who com." Such feet are allowed, by poetic usage, when 
they can take the same time as the regular feet have. 

It is not claimed that all lines can be thus exactly measured. 
The pause is often extra time and arbitrary in the verse. 

When the regular rhythm will give the sense it should be 
assumed to be the poet's reading. In the lines 

" Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime," 

the trochaic reading must be preferred, which gives the 
sense by a strong accent on " we" and preserves the rhythm 
in harmony with the other lines. 

" We can make our lives sublime " gives the sense only. 



INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 59 

An agreeable variety in the flow of verse is often intro- 
duced into dissyllabic measure by the use of a foot of three 
syllables. 

" And what | is so rare | as a day | in Jiine % 
Then if | ever | come per | feet days ; 
Then Heaven | tries the earth | if it be | in time, 
And 6 I ver it soft | ly her warm | ear lays." 

The measure of time is the same in the first line as if written 
thus : " And what | so rare | as days | in June." 

Yet the added syllables give a pleasing rhythmic variety, 
which makes half the charm of the verse. Note, also, that the 
second line begins with trochaic feet and ends with iambic ; 
thus still further varying the rhythmic beauty. And in the 
third line the accents of the first two feet come together. If 
read rapidly this would break the melody roughly on the ear. 
But the natural pause on the emphatic word "Heaven" gives 
time to change the rhythm without offense. 

Sometimes these exceptional " feet " are used to give variety 
to the verse and often to accommodate the sense. 

The trisyllabic measure often begins or ends with a foot of 
two syllables and sometimes of one long syllable. 

" Oh, young | Lochinvar | is come oiit | from the West ! " 
" Dear Fa | ther, take care [ of thy chil | dren, the boys." 

The unaccented syllable in the first foot is " long," and equals 
in metric time the two unaccented syllables in the standard foot. 

" Dear to each | heart are the | names of the [ brave ; 
Resting in | glory, how | sweetly they | sleep ! 
Dew-drops at | evening fall | soft on each | grave, 
Kindred and | strangers bend | fondly to | weep." 

These dactylic lines end with a foot of one accented syllable, 
which, being at the end of the line and emphatic, can be agree- 
ably prolonged to fill the standard time. 



60 INTRODUCTORY TREATISE. 

Sometimes the emphasis of the sense overmasters the regular 
metric accent. 

" Has there an | y old fel | low got mixed | with the boys?" 

would be the regular accentuation ; yet the word " old " is the 
most emphatic syllable in the line, being in contrast to " boys," 
and must therefore take the strong accent of sense, thus, 

" Has there an | y old fel | low got mixed | with the boys T' 

The change does not affect the time of the measure, only the 
rhythm by putting the accent on the middle syllable in the 
second foot. 

Iambic lines very often begin with a trochaic foot. 

" Up from | the mead | ow rich | with corn, 
Clear in | the cool | Septem | ber morn." 

When consecutive trisyllabic words occur in an iambic or 
trochaic line, they give in reading the rhythmic variety of the 
other measure. 

" Beaitti | ful Ev | elyn H6pe | is dead." 

This line may be scanned in several ways, yet in natural 
reading it takes this form best, — 

" Beautiful | Evelyn | Hope — | is dead." 

with two "dactyls," one "monosyllabic" foot, and one iam- 
bic. This is the natural grouping of the words and sense, and 
better preserves the music of the verse. 

Finally, group the words so as best to give the sense. Vary 
the accent in force and place to give the sense. Suit the gen- 
eral time to the general spirit of each group. But let the feet 
associated in any given group be read with the same relative 
equable time, as far as the poet's words will allow. 

In a word, read the sense always, read the measure when 
you can. 



